Club attempts world record

2013-10-02

While at a men's cross country meet last year at Castleton State College in Vermont, Nick Hernigle '16 of Canajoharie, N.Y., and some teammates learned that the college holds the world's record for the longest dodge ball marathon. As competitors, Hernigle and his team wanted to break that record, but a dilemma soon followed. How to do that with just eight of them?

The solution? To form a new MCLA club with the sole purpose of breaking world records. However, this Saturday, Oct. 5, when Hernigle (pictured above) and the members of MCLA's World Record Breaking Club attempt their very first world record, they won't be playing dodge ball.

Instead, the members of this new campus club aim to create the world's longest hopscotch, as they draw, then hop, their way into the Guinness World Record books, beginning at 9 a.m. at the Harriman-and-West Airport on Route 2 in North Adams.

Anyone who wishes to participate is invited to join them.

To break the hopscotch record, the club needs four miles of road or sidewalk - and lots of chalk! Hernigle planned for the event all summer long, with the help of Celia Norcross, MCLA's director of student development, and Lt. David Sacco of the North Adams Police Department.

Ideally, between 50 and 75 people will participate, but Hernigle feels the record can be broken with as few as 10.

"The more people we have, the faster it will go. I don't want more than 75 because then people will be standing around, and I want everyone to feel they did something to contribute to the record," he said.

Besides breaking the record, Hernigle, the club's president, wants others to become interested in joining the club, so it might grow to be one of the largest on campus. MCLA students are encouraged to attend a volunteer orientation 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 4, in the Achievement Lounge.

All of the records that the club breaks will be in accordance with the Guinness Book of World Records.

"When we finish, we must construct visual evidence," Hernigle explained. "We need video footage of two people completing all four miles of hopscotch, playing it the whole time."

Photographs and several signatures also must serve as verification of the achievement. After the evidence is sent to Guinness' headquarters, members of the club expect to receive a certificate in the mail, recognizing them as the world record breakers.

A business administration major with a focus on marketing and international business, Hernigle believes that - as he works with large and small groups of people and plans events such as this - the experience will help him in his future career.

What's next after this Saturday's hopscotch? Three members of the club will attempt the fastest piggyback mile.

"The MCLA community is something like no other," Hernigle said. "Many students here have different views and different ideas about many things. Here, they are all accepted, so the idea to break world records was approved by many students and got many of them excited."